


Outline Of Our Lives

by afteriwake



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn returns to Sunnydale to look for Xander, but she's not the only one doing so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outline Of Our Lives

She'd never smoked before she got the letter. It wasn't her style, the way she was. It was so anti her that no one would ever have expected it. But as she lit the Marlboro Ultra Light Menthol 100 with her sleek silver butane lighter, she knew that anyone that would have known the old her was dead and gone, either buried in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries or walking around at night. 

Yeah, no one would have expected Dawn Summers to become the woman she became. But for someone who was willed into existence and placed in everyone's memories, no one also expected she'd still be alive. 

Joyce was dead. Even though she thought of her as Mom, she now called her Joyce. 

Buffy was dead. Killed by a vampire, who was killed by Spike who then promptly killed himself. 

Willow was dead. Botched up spell, trying to close the Hellmouth. 

Giles was dead. Heart attack. 

Tara was vamped. Got caught at Willow's grave one night, sired on the spot. 

Anya went back to being a vengeance demon. 

Xander...he was the only one no one knew what had happened to. Maybe he was alive, maybe he wasn't, no one knew. And that's why she was back in Sunnydale. 

Because someone who said they were Xander Harris had asked for her help. 

Dawn heard the sound of fighting in the alley, and that took her attention away a bit. 

"Look," the man said, slamming the punk up against a wall. "I'm not a bounty hunter, a cop, or anything like that. Now, once again: where's Xander Harris?" 

She thought she recognized the voice asking the question. But most importantly, they were looking for the same person. 

The punk went flying out the alley, and the man who asked the question walked out after him. "Last time..." he began, but his eyes set sight on Dawn. "Dawn?" 

The punk scurried away while the man's attention was elsewhere. Dawn looked at the man carefully. He hadn't changed at all, not since the last time she saw him. Or was supposed to have seen him; she'd never actually met him. 

But she knew him. 

"Angel?" 

\---

"I felt I owed it to Buffy," Angel said, shrugging as he sat down in the overstuffed chair. The Crawford Street mansion was still standing, still furnished, and was right now Angel's new home. 

"You didn't owe her anything." Dawn was pacing in front of him, smoking her fourth or fifth cigarette since they'd gotten there, he'd lost count. "You didn't let her die." 

"Neither did you." Angel looked at her carefully, almost willing her to stop in her tracks. "Dawn, she died doing her job." 

"And everyone else died, too. Except Xander." She finally stopped, looking not at him but at the doorway. "Angel, go back to Los Angeles. He wanted me to find him, not you." 

Angel pulled out a letter, tossed it at Dawn's feet. "He wanted you to find him and me to watch you, so I thought I'd find him for you, maybe...keep you safe." 

"And why would you care?" Dawn spat out at him. "You don't care about me, you just want to make things up to Buffy. And she's dead. D. E. A. D. Nothing will bring her back, either. So go home, let me do this on my own." Dawn headed for the doorway she'd been staring at, taking long strides. 

"You're right." 

Dawn stopped short. "How?" 

"Buffy's dead. I want to make things up to her. Nothing's going to bring her back." Angel stood up and walked to Dawn. "But you're wrong, too. I do care, about you. You may not really have been Buffy's sister, but she loved you like one after she found out." He paused for a moment. "My memories got modified, too. And I remembered you. And, I always felt something for you. Not pity, but...something." 

Dawn looked at him, silently, then walked out the door. 

All Angel could do was follow.

\---

"Stop following me." Dawn whipped around, glaring at Angel. Her hair was shorter now, cut to the shoulders. It was a dark brown, so dark it almost seemed black. And she was much more muscular than she had been as a young girl; she looked as though she had been training physically for a long time.

"I'm only doing what Xander asked me to." Angel shrugged and kept walking towards the stopped girl. "Look, at least I can tell you what I've found out. Xander was trying to leave Sunnydale when he got caught. One of the vampires who was supposed to guard him felt sorry for him; that's how we got our letters. The vamp mailed them out but got caught and was staked."

Dawn nodded, sitting at a nearby bench in Weatherly Park, where they had been cutting through. "And?"

"Xander is still alive. He isn't being treated well, but he's still alive."

Dawn breathed out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. "God, I was so worried he was...you know. Dead or vamped." She fumbled in her jacket pocket for her cigarettes, pulling one out and looking at it before she lit it. "He'll kill me if he finds out I didn't quit like I promised."

"Dawn...how old are you now?"

"22. Fresh out of college...did you know he paid for it because Buffy couldn't? He wanted me to get the fuck out of dodge, you know? That's why I was in New York...because he wanted me safe." She threw the lit but unsmoked cigarette to the ground. "I should have made him come with me!"

"He couldn't have left everyone behind, Dawn. He just isn't like that."

"Well, Buffy and Spike died six months ago. Why didn't he leave then?" Tears started to stream down her face. "Why didn't he pack up and come out to me? I need him." She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "He came to visit. He was there. He's all I've got left." She took a deep breath. "I love him."

"Well, of course you do..." Angel started to say, but Dawn started shaking her head.

"I love him like you love Buffy. And...he feels the same way. I'm not a kid anymore, and he noticed. But he never took advantage of me. When we got together, it was just natural. And...he was supposed to come to New York to be with me, and then Buffy died, and he stayed, and now..." She dashed away the last of her tears and stood up. "I don't care what it takes, but I'm going to find him. Tonight."

\---

Angel interrogated some more vampires, asked a few more questions from the cooperative demons in town, and finally found out Xander was being held in the Master's old lair.

"I didn't tell you which vamp felt sorry for him, did I?" Angel whispered as they wound their way through the thread of sewers to the lair.

"No. Who was it?"

"Tara."

Dawn's mouth formed an O shape in surprise. "I thought she was still around."

Angel shook his head. "No. She died doing one last good deed. I hope wherever she is, someone remembered that." He put a finger to his lips and motioned to the opening of the lair. There were only three vampires there, all with their backs turned. But Dawn could see someone else in there. She tried hard not to gasp, or scream, or cry.

Xander was stripped to his pants, which were now covered in dirt and slime. He had bite marks on his neck and chest, and he was thinner than either Angel or Dawn had ever seen him. His hair was matted down on his head and longer then before, shaggy and in desperate need for a trim.

But the worst part was the look in his eyes, like he'd finally given up hope of ever being saved.

Angel fingered his stake and crept inside, Dawn following and keeping a tight grip on her mini crossbow. Angel went behind the first vampire, the one farthest away from the group, and staked him in the back. The vampire turned to ash without making a sound. Dawn cocked the crossbow, aiming at one of the two remaining vampire, the one farthest from Xander. Angel started towards the other vampire. When Angel was close enough to stake his vampire, Dawn fired off a crossbow bolt, watching as it hit it's target perfectly and both vampires floated to the ground.

"Dawn?" Xander asked, his voice hoarse and cracking.

Dawn rushed over and tried to find something to break the chains. "Oh, Xander," she said, trying hard to get the words out over the lump in her throat.

"I didn't think you'd make it," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Angel grabbed the chains and pulled them apart while Dawn caught Xander as he slumped towards the ground. "Hurry, let's get out of here before someone gets us," Angel said.

Angel picked Xander up from Dawn's arms and headed towards the tunnel, Dawn scurrying after them, checking back to make sure they were making the return trip alone.

\---

A few nights later, Angel watched as Xander came out of the bathroom, looking cleaner and healthier. They were at Xander's apartment now, and it was almost empty since Dawn had been packing things up while Xander recuperated.

"I really didn't think I'd ever get out of there," Xander said, looking at Dawn. She was sprawled out on his bed, sleeping.

"Well, you asked someone who wanted you safe more than anything else. Even more than her life," Angel replied.

"That's why I asked you to watch over her." Xander looked at Angel. He was still very thin, but some color had returned to his face and the circles under his eyes were not quite as dark. His voice was still a bit hoarse, but there was improvement every day. "You wouldn't let her die."

"Yeah," Angel said simply.

"Are you leaving for Los Angeles tonight?"

Angel shook his head. "Not until you two leave town. I owe it to Buffy to make sure Dawn's safe. I owe it to Dawn to make sure you're safe."

Xander grinned and put a hand on Angel's shoulder, his attention going back to his sleeping love. "Thank you."

"Any time." Angel watched as Xander entered the room and prodded Dawn enough so that she'd move and make room for him, then he held her in his arms until he joined her in sleep. Then Angel headed for the mansion, thoughts of times with Buffy filling his mind and keeping him company on the cold night.


End file.
